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Sinking in filth

Mar 10, 2014 Editorial

The recurrence of a garbage crisis does not surprise us. The corrective methods have always been inadequate. The wrangling at City Hall hasn’t helped. It is also no longer newsworthy. The citizens are bored and disinterested. They do not expect much from a preposterous leadership arrangement.
No amount of “spin” through playing the “blame game” can hide the fact that the Government is not intent on addressing the root causes of this endemic problem. But how long can we continue to exist in this filth?
The Local Government situation has been toyed around with for as long as many of us care to remember. One wonders if anything of consequence will ever develop from the assent of Bills and the holding of elections.
As the city stinks, we now await the customary announcement that the government will be taking the lead on this issue of national importance, and in the best interest of the people, help them by providing unlimited resources as well as creating employment for many. The people would be working under the supervision of contractors and they would be responsible for the maintenance/clean-ups in their respective communities.
From time immemorial, projects of this nature have been launched in numerous regions and in the city. Teams of workers have been called upon to clean up garbage and the like. But this is just a stop-gap method. The funding will of course be touted as substantial, but in actual fact it will merely represent a drop in the ocean.
The beleaguered City Hall has never effectively used its powers to haul defaulting rate payers before the courts, and has constantly bemoaned the sloth in the judicial system. There has also been the cry of not being allowed to raise funds through innovative means.
The government was at one time, and most likely still is City Hall’s biggest debtor, and in the not too distant past there was a quarrel over the quantum the government owed to the council.
Any money that government owes will certainly not be given to the council; it will go to private contractors. Government has insisted over the years that City Hall is incompetent. An interim management committee has always been its preference.
In the meantime, we predict that as the city continues to sink in garbage, there will be a much-publicized Presidential walkabout with a number of council officials accompanying the presidential party. The president and/or his advisers will then meet with the council to agree on and to plan enhancement works. More of the same.
The unpopular City Hall will continue to lose its grip on the management of the city and government will continue to boast that it has to provide the essential services. It will be highlighted that City Hall is inevitably heading for redundancy as more and more the government has to undertake necessary works in Georgetown. The Mayor and others who insist that they are the legitimate leaders will continue to be sidelined as their detractors pile on the criticisms. The vicious cycle will continue.
There will be a brief respite from this crisis and then we will have to hold our breaths as we again wallow in the mire. While those in authority play their selfish games, the possibility our luck running out (in terms of crippling diseases) is increasing. There is no reason that we should be allowed to decline to this extent in the 21st century. The frightening thing is we are not convinced that anyone really has the answers.

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